The Man of the Year

O Homem do Ano starts with a fantasy-come-true: Máiquel (Murilo Benício) shoots local hoodlum Suel (Wagner Moura) in the back, killing him, but rather than get into trouble, Máiquel is hailed a hero by his neighbours. He goes on to become a minor celebrity as people leave gifts for him for his "heroic deed", not the least of which is a piglet that he names Bill. Máiquel gains a girlfriend in Cledir (Cláudia Abreu) and an admirer/patron in Dr. Carvalho (Jorge Dória), a dentist. The hero's life becomes more complicated when Suel's very young girlfriend Érica (Natália Lage) insists that Máiquel give her a place to stay since he killed her boyfriend, and Dr. Carvalho enlists him to take out the man who allegedly raped his daughter.

This movie is at its strongest when it's setting up the pieces on the board. We wonder where Máiquel's life is headed as no one seems terribly bothered by his taking a human life. His becoming a killer for hire seems only to result in reward with no downside. Máiquel appears to understand that murder is wrong, but it's not something that keeps him up at night. Rather, he's more concerned about whether or not to marry Cledir who has become pregnant with his child and getting himself an above-board job.

It's only when Máiquel becomes a successful hitman and gets his friends to help out that he begins to suffer setbacks. One of those involves Érica finding religion either because she feels guilty for being with a killer or because she doesn't get enough attention or perhaps both. The appearance of religion in this movie attempts to show how corrupted Máiquel has become as he resorts to violence to deal with a pastor. Máiquel also has trouble with the law when police from outside his area start to investigate his friends.

The challenges Máiquel faces in the latter part of the film are nowhere near as interesting as his entry into the world of murder. The surreal responses he receives to the killing of Suel give the story momentum as we wonder what's going to happen next in this bizarro world and if Máiquel will ever see justice for murdering a man. The issues he faces as he scales the social ladder are more typical of a crime drama and don't feel as fresh the film's setup.

The third act is particularly troublesome since Máiquel essentially blames others for his problems and sets out to "right wrongs" in the only way he knows how. Máiquel seems to have no awareness of what he's become or his own culpability, making the ending rather problematic. Needless to say, O Homem do Ano is not the type of movie you want to show to someone impressionable because it's very easy to take away the wrong lessons from it.